The sixth round of indirect negotiations between the US and Iran to revive the nuclear deal concluded on June 20th. At this point, it’s not clear when the next round of talks will begin.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters at a press conference Monday that it’s up to Iran when to start the next round. “Questions about when or whether Iran would be prepared to start a seventh round or reach an understanding on a mutual return to the JCPOA, those can only be addressed by Tehran. They can’t be routed here. We’ve made very clear that we are prepared to return to a seventh round,” he said.
Price also said that the US would not set a deadline for the talks. “We’re not imposing a deadline on these talks, but … we are conscious that as time proceeds Iran’s nuclear advances will have a bearing on our view of ultimately returning to the JCPOA,” he said. Since Iran began gradually increasing its nuclear activity in 2019, a year after the US left the JCPOA, Iranian officials have been clear that the steps are easily reversible.
The talks are being dragged out because the Biden administration refuses to lift all Trump-era sanctions on Iran. The two sides have to negotiate what sanctions the US is willing to lift and what is acceptable relief for Tehran.
While the Biden administration is being stubborn, the government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani continues to be optimistic about the negotiations. Iran’s Foreign Ministry submitted a 264-page report to parliament on the JCPOA talks, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said an agreement should be reached soon.
Rouhani will be replaced by President-elect Ebrahim Raisi in August. Raisi is viewed as a hardliner, but he still favors a JCPOA revival if the US returns to its commitments under the deal by lifting sanctions on Iran.
This story makes me even less optimistic about the “negotiations”. From here it looks like the US is demanding some kind of Iranian surrender before starting talking again.
Perhaps Biden is also maneuvering for the delivery of more Shekels from the Apartheid state.
Didn’t he kneel in obeisance in front of his master recently ?
Right. He knelt in homage to Reuven Rivlin and his “advisor”, a hero of Zionism for out-breeding (12) her Palestinian counterparts. Can things get any more obscene?
Price also said that the US would not set a deadline for the talks. “We’re not imposing a deadline on these talks, but … we are conscious that as time proceeds Iran’s nuclear advances will have a bearing on our view of ultimately returning to the JCPOA”
Once more Ned ignores Iran REPEATEDLY stating they would return to compliance on their “nuclear advances” immediately upon the US rejoining the deal.
Stop this nonsense…! There won’t be a Seventh round of talks…!
Shows Iran made a mistake in agreeing to the talks in the first place. They should have said the conditions are simple: the party that left the Deal, the US, needs to return to the Deal with no preconditions. And Iran would immediately subsequently return to compliance as they had when the Deal was in effect.
Breaking News: the FBI arrested Iranians in the U.S. who supposedly planned to kidnap journalists who were critical of Iran.
The timing of this stinks to high heaven. It has the same stench as the allegation that Assad of Syria gassed his people.
There are no lengths we will not go to give Israel the go signal to attack Iran. Or we will do it.
If Biden wanted a deal, he would have gotten one. He doesn’t, but at the same time, he doesn’t want the United States to be seen as preventing a deal from getting done.